Erik Willis

Cars 2 is the newest video game installment in the Cars franchise and, obviously, ties in with the movie, Cars 2. The game takes on a whole new approach, breaking away from a strictly kids-oriented game, to creating a toned-down kids version of the popular racing game “Blur.” In all honesty, this probably was a great move, as people of all ages, not just kids anymore, will be interested in the game.

Virtua Tennis 4 is the 4th installment in the long-running Virtua Tennis series. It’s also the first “real” tennis game designed for use with the Kinect Sensor. Virtua Tennis 4 totally blew my mind right off the bat when I went to the main screen…there were so many choices and I enjoyed every mode available!

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is by far the greatest racing game created of its genre. When switching to new developer Criterion, many people had doubts about whether they could create a Need for Speed game with the same intensity as their Burnout series. It is safe to say that they have succeeded in all aspects.

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future is, to be honest, the best puzzle game I have ever played. Basically, the main goal of the game can be categorized into three steps: exploring your surroundings, conducting an investigation, and solving puzzles. Not only do these three steps go hand in hand, but none are repetitive or boring.

Madden NFL 11 is the latest installment in the “Madden” franchise. Many people feared that with so many new additions and tweaks to the game play, “Madden” was straying from its roots and becoming too complicated. Well, this year things have changed. First, the franchise mode is back and better than ever. You can do all the same things as in years past, such as draft and sign prospects and hire coaches, but now the process is much simpler, and, in my opinion, more fun. There also is an option which would allow the CPU to do all of these tasks… the only thing you need to worry about is playing the game!